Ahead of the 2027 presidential election, the Presidency has welcomed the reports that the former president, Goodluck Jonathan, has decided to join other Nigerians seeking to stop President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid, saying the country’s leader is not afraid to contest against the ex-leader.
While describing the move as one that indicated that the former president aimed to exercise his rights as a Nigerian, the Presidency insisted that Nigerians will never forget the failures of Jonathan’s government.
Declaring further, the presidency added that the opposition’s efforts to draft Jonathan into the race only reflected their desperation and lack of fresh ideas after losing power in 2015.
It stated this on Monday while responding to former Minister, Prof. Jerry Gana’s claim that Jonathan will contest and defeat President Tinubu during the 2027 presidential election in the country.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who stated this while responding to the Minister, stressed that Jonathan is free to contest if he chooses, but he should be ready to face both the verdict of the law and voters’ judgment.
According to him, Tinubu will not only welcome the challenge but will also defeat Jonathan “just as Nigerians did in 2015.”
The response followed a call by former Information Minister, Professor Jerry Gana, urging the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to present Jonathan as its candidate in the 2027 polls.
However, the Presidency dismissed the suggestion as “absurd,” warning that Jonathan risks being misled by what it called “sugar-coated cheerleaders” within the opposition.
“Politicians of Jerry Gana’s ilk merely want to lure him into the race to satisfy their personal and ethnic interests,” Onanuga said in a statement on Monday. “They will leave him stranded, just as they did before.”
Recalling Jonathan’s record in office, the Presidency accused his administration of squandering the oil boom years.
It said Jonathan inherited $66 billion in reserves and an Excess Crude Account of $20 billion in 2010, but by 2015, both had been depleted despite crude oil averaging $100 per barrel.
“It is on record that by December 2014, the Jonathan-led Federal Government could no longer pay salaries to federal civil servants, while at least 28 states owed workers huge arrears,” Onanuga noted.
Also, Onanuga contrasted that performance with Tinubu’s current economic reforms, highlighting the removal of fuel subsidy, exchange rate unification, and rising investor confidence.
The presidency cited recent figures showing GDP growth of 4.23% in the second quarter of 2025, inflation at its lowest in three years, and foreign reserves at $42 billion.
“Those who broke the economy before cannot be trusted to manage it again,” Onanuga declared. “Millions of Nigerians will not allow the PDP and its allies to drag the nation back into economic ruin.”
